I received an electronic ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Bettina and Max’s story will stay with me. Novels on this subject are difficult to read. That being said, this one offered a look at two people who just tried to live their lives, doing whatever they had to do in order for their loved ones, and themselves to survive. I look forward to reading more from Sarah Freethy.

I listened along to this one whilst traveling. It was engaging enough to make the multiple flights go by but it’s exactly what you expect a WWII book to be. Although I will admit that it didn’t go into as much detail of the concentration/labor camps so that was uniquely different about it.

Dual timeline novel first set in the early days of WWII and follows the love story of Bettina, a modern artist and Max, a Jewish architect. They have so much promise, personally and professionally, until the nightmare of WWII is upon them. Max is arrested and sent to Dachau. His talent is making beautiful porcelain figurines. Bettina has to change her painting techniques to better suit the German ideals and is trying to figure out how to save Max.

Fast forward to 1993, Clara, Bettina’s daughter, is trying to unmask her roots and to finally see if she can find out who her father is. Her mother kept deep, dark secrets and Clara needs to uncover the truth.

I had a hard time getting into this in the beginning. With everything going on in the world today, I’m not sure I was in the right mindset to delve into this subject. The story started slowly but once I sat down and focused, I was invested. I really knew nothing about Dachau and the porcelain figures. The book centered on the love story between Bettina and Max, their fight to be together and the horrors they endured. My heart went out to Clara and her need to find out who her father was, since Bettina shared very little with her. This is a debut novel, and I look forward to reading this author again.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC. This is my honest opinion.

WWII story that looks at the life of two artist who met when they were young. They fall in love but Hitler takes control of Germany and soon Max is in fear of his life. Not only is he an artist, but also a Jew. Bettina is an abstract artist that is at odds with her family. If artists weren't a certain type in Germany at this time, they also feared for their life. Max tries to get Bettina to leave, but soon it's to late. What must they do to survive such a world?

Freethy writes a very moving story. It's Historical Fiction at its finest. A love story that is heartbreaking. Freethy made me feel like I was experiencing everything that went on right during that time in History. There was great character development. I was disgusted at what happened during the Holocaust and pray it never happens again.

If you like historical fiction, love stories, or WWII books, don't miss this one.

Published November 7, 2023

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC of The Porcelain Maker. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

😊 Happy Reading 😊

#netgalley
#stmartinspress
#sarahfreethy
#theporcelainmaker

Ⓑⓞⓞⓚ Ⓡⓔⓥⓘⓔⓦ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕄𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕣
𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗵 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵𝘆
WWll Historical Fiction
384 pages

Sʜᴏᴿᴛ Sʏɴᴏᴘsɪs

Set in Germany and starting in 1929, Max & Bettina meet and fall in love. Nazism inevitably interferes, breaking them apart.

Max is sent to a concentration camp but works at a porcelain factory, making the figurines that the Nazis love.

These figurines have a way of bringing people together both in the past and the present. They are a daughter’s key to finding out who her father was long after both parents are gone.

Mʸ Tᴴᴼᵁᴳᴴᵀs

Porcelain Maker is an emotional ride. Though it doesn’t go into detail about the war or the concentration camps, it gives a peak into the situation by dipping a toe into the dire circumstances that occurred.

The story takes the reader on a journey by alternating from present to past. Both were inspiring and immersed me in the lives of not only Max & Battina, but also with future generations.

Love is a strong motivator, making the characters show great perseverance and an unending determination to keep loved ones from suffering with the knowledge of the horrendous events that happened.

This story is superbly written. Sarah Freethy weaves this story together without missing a beat. The past and present join together perfectly in the end.

I was enthralled with the story of Max and Bettina. This is a story of love, heartache, and how the characters dealt with life.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing this ebook for me to read and review.

~Read more reviews at Latishaslowkeylife.com

The Porcelain Maker, by Sarah Freethy was an excellent historical fiction novel, told in dual timeline. Wonderful unfolding of events as a current day daughter is searching to uncover the history of her family and the identity of her father, utilizing the clue of a porcelain sculpture. Very interesting and captivating, great characters and ties to WWII events. I really enjoyed this book! Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

This was an interesting historical fiction. I have never read a book with porcelain making as part of the storyline and it was a fascinating addition to the wartime theme. This book had two timelines. The current day is with Clara trying to find out who her father is after her mother's passing. The secondary timeline focuses on Clara's mother, Bettina, and her story with Max during the war.

As Clara unravels clues to her father's identity, her journey of discovery gives glimpses of a past of love and loss.

I enjoyed most of the story but felt some of the storyline was lacking...not all of the blanks were filled in for me.

3 stars

In 1993, recently divorced Clara is determined to learn the identity of her father, a secret her mother carried to the grave. Clara’s daughter, Lotte, is eager to learn more about her grandmother, both as an artist and as a woman.

In 1929, budding architect Max meets artist Bettina and is immediately smitten. The two Bohemians seem destined to share a long creative life together but Hitler has other plans. Max, a Jew, is forced to fake a new identity but is ultimately discovered and sent to Dachau. Max and Bettina are separated, reunited, and finally, face tragedy.

Told in alternating points of view, this story is sometimes painful to read (but unavoidable in a historical novel set in Germany during the Holocaust). A fresh new voice in historical fiction. #ThePorcelainMaker #NetGalley

In Weimar, Germany 1929, a gathering of artist, two artists meet, wo young artists, Max, a skilled Jewish architect, and Bettina, a celebrated avant-garde painter, are drawn to each other and begin a romance. Their respective talents send them to Berlin. In Berlin, Max is arrested and sent to the Nazi’s camp Dachau. It is his talent of making of porcelain figures that appears to keep him from death. Bettina risks everything to save her lover Max. Will she be able to do it? In America, 1993, Clara, Bettina’s daughter, embarks on a journey to find out who her father is. Bettina has kept who her father as a secret from her daughter. Clara never understood her mother’s reasoning for not telling her . Clara’s quest to figure out about her father transports the reader back in time to the darkness of Nazi Germany, where life is hopefully living .in Clara digs further and begins to question why her mother was so determined to leave the truth of her harrowing past behind...Clara doesn’t understand. Will she finds the answer to who her father is? Will she understand why her mother was so determined to keep her secrets?

The author has written more than a love story but also a time when Nazis reign. The novel is sad, heartbreaking and tells a tale of truth not told enough. It is a story of brutality during a dark period in Germany and how love endures. It is a novel I will not forget.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find this story engaging though it seemed to be well written. I just couldn’t find enough interest to continue reading.

The narrative has a dual timeline told from the two main characters points of view, Bettina and Clara, it starts in 1929 and ends in 1994 and it’s very easy to follow. The story is aroundthe fictional lives of Max, a young Jewish architect, and Bettina, a budding German artist, who are drawn together by the art scene in Germany in 1929. In America, in 1993, it is Bettina's daughter Clara who becomes the focus of the other part of the story, as she is trying to find the father she never knew. The story is based on Allach porcelain, which was produced in Allach Germany at a factory owned by the SS. It is marked with a stylized SS on the bottom and was produced using slave labor from the Dachau concentration camp. The porcelain was a personal favorite of Himmler.
The book does best when it concentrates on art - the difference between the approved art the Nazis favored, romantic realism, and the “degenerate art” of the modernists. The characters are well developed and the reader really gets engaged to the story and the experiences when they are together as well as separated. I will definitely be looking for more by this author.

With thanks to NetGalley, the author and especially to Simon and Schuster.

This novel is a World War 2 historical fiction love story. It's 1993 and Clara, along with her daughter, is searching to find out who her father is. During Clara's search, which revolves around porcelain figurines, we go back in time to before WW2 in Germany. We meet Bettina who is Clara's mother and an artist in 1929. Clara falls in love with Max, a Jew, which will shortly be a problem for them and then even against the law. This is also the story of survival and the ways regular citizens can fight back against the law when those in charge are evil. The narration is well done.

The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy was an enjoyable historical fiction with a dual timeline of Germany 1940’s and London 1993. Although the book was a little slow at first the storyline quickly picked up and held this readers interest.

1929 Germany- Two young artists, Max and Bettina, meet and fall in love. When Max is sent to Dachau, his talent at making porcelain figures may be the only thing that could keep him alive, and Bettina is also ready to do anything to save him.

1993 America- Bettina’s granddaughter Clara is on the search for her family roots and answers to family secrets, which leads her straight back to the darkness of Nazi Germany.

This book is a heart wrenching, beautifully written story of betrayal, love, art, family secrets, and survival. The story was inspired by an actual porcelain factory in Dachau! An incredible debut novel and an absolute must read for historical fiction lovers.

This is a beautifully written fictional story about an actual place, a porcelain factory in Dachau concentration camp. I've read so many historical fiction books set during WWII, but I thought this one was truly unique. I was fascinated by the detail in the historical timeline, but the story in the present was a little dry and forced. I thought Bettina's reason for not telling her daughter about her father was a little flimsy. Overall I really enjoyed this book and I couldn't believe it was a debut novel.

3.5 stars rounded to 4. I love a debut novel, and I’m so moved by the courage it must take to put yourself out there like that. I loved the history of the art in Bettina & Max’s timeline, and I loved the search for Clara’s father in the 1990s timeline. I remember vividly the trial of the former SS Guard John Demjanjuk (who was local to the Greater Cleveland area) when I was a teen, and not understanding anything that they were talking about. So today I have educated myself on WWII almost exclusively via historical novels. The history was great. But I felt little connection to the characters, and felt like Lotte was turned into an extraneous figure. The romance was ho hum, not terrible but I got way more from the other relationships that Max and Betti had with Richard and Holger, among others. I felt like the ending was rushed, and so much of the story was just tragic and hopeless, there seemed little could redeem it. I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a positive review.

This is a dual timeline story alternating between WWII and the 1990s. It is the story of love and artists struggling to find their way only to be caught up by the chaos of Nazi Germany. This is a story of love - often separated by circumstance. It’s the story of struggle and a story of survival. I gave this a 3 star review but would round it to a 3.5. I struggled with the love relationship in this one - I just didn’t feel it. The rest of the story was very compelling. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this read.

This dual time-line story about the Shoah provides yet another unique narrative. There was, indeed, a porcelain factory in Nazi Germany known for its figurines which were coveted by the SS. Those porcelains form the basis of this story which revolves around art, forbidden love, Jewish slave labor, courage and rebellion.

Bettina and Max are the doomed lovers whose lives are forever changed by the rise of Nazism. We learn their story through Bettina’s granddaughter Clara, seeking information about her mother’s porcelain collection to better understand her family and specifically to identify her father. The story is compelling – there is tension and emotion. I was captivated by the information about the porcelain factory and the mandates on acceptable art. For me, that was the most significant contribution this book made to the large body of Holocaust literature. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced readers copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Television producer / author Freethy’s fiction debut follows a woman as she searches for information about the father she never knew. In 1993, Clara Vogel’s quest for her father’s identity takes her from London to Cincinnati where porcelain figurines are being auctioned off. She is searching for the Viking, a figurine she believes was owned by someone who knows who her father was. Though Clara’s mother, Bettina, never told her the name of Clara’s biological father, shortly before her death, Bettina told Clara that her father had made the Viking.

In an alternate narrative set in 1930s Germany, architect Max Ehrlich and artist Bettina Vogel meet and fall in love as they hone their respective crafts at Bauhaus, an avant-garde art school in Dessau, Germany. But before they decide Germany is too dangerous for them since Max is Jewish and they are living together when Bettina gets pregnant, he ends up getting arrested and sent to Dachau, a concentration camp outside Munich, where he works crafting porcelain figurines at Allach, a subcamp. After Max is arrested, Bettina accepts a marriage proposal from Nazi officer, Karl Holz, believing that marrying him might enable her to free Max from Dachau. Though she experiences great danger in her attempt to free Max, Bettina remains firm in her resolve to get Max out of Dachau so that she, Max and their daughter, Clara, can finally be together.

Freethy’s debut is richly enhanced with historical detail surrounding the existence of Allach and Heinrich Himmler’s presence there. Yet it is the riveting swirl of emotions surrounding Clara’s search for her father’s identity and the love between Bettina and Max that will draw the reader in from the very first page, never letting go until the breathtaking conclusion.

The porcelain maker
By Sarah Frethy
A remarkably crafted story shows the darker side of the German Reich. The layered nature of the story drawing the reader through two time lines shows the nature of the conflict in German society at that time. The beginning of the war, and its aftermath show in progression. The layer the love story of two phenomenal Austrian artists, as they trip unpredictably through the terrible times. The forced labor camps, the artistic restrictions, and the enforced idealism clash and roll like waves on the shore. Making it harder for the reader to put down the story till then end. It is a Greek tragedy placed on the war torn pages of history and its repercussions.